i like pbs. i love big bird. actually like you, too. but i'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from china to pay for it. ♪ i love to move to the music >> reporter: the mere mention of cutting funds to big bird sent the social media world into high gear. pictures like this, with big bird on the ropes. president obama on the campaign trail. >> thank goodness somebody is finally getting tough on big bird. >> reporter: the pentagon, which has been a close ally of the eight foot tall bird, was asked about it at the briefing. >> i'm not going to get into politics here. i wouldn't want to ruffle any feathers, so to speak. >> reporter: but big bird has some conservatives a little plucked. they argue that it's time to stop funding public broadcast programs like sesame street, npr and the pbs news hour. brian darling is with the conservative heritage foundation. >> it's not well spent at all. using public funds to fund different news outlets, to fund entertainment programs, is not what the federal government should b